


Last Night

by Akiko_Natsuko



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Apologies, F/M, Friendship/Love, Goodbyes, Promises, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-17 06:12:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16510862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: It's the night that he's supposed to be leaving, ready to go undercover and leave Juvia behind, but Gray finds that he can't just walk away as easily as that.





	Last Night

    Gray sighed as he finished stuffing what few things he was bothering to take with him into his bag, an odd, empty feeling filling his stomach as he gazed around the room that had been his home for the past few months. He had never thought that anywhere would feel like home as much as Fairy Tail had, but this small house that he had shared with Juvia had come to hold a special place in his heart, separate from the tainted warmth that came with thoughts of the guild. It made it harder to think about he was going to do, and the temptation to just unpack and go to sleep and pretend that he hadn’t been ready to leave this house…to leave her behind was strong and his hands were on the clasp of his bag before he even realised what he was doing. For a long moment he just stared at his hands, the dark markings spreading across his skin drawing his gaze and he sighed in defeat as his fingers curled into a fist around the strap. No, he couldn’t back out now no matter what it might cost him, otherwise his efforts up to now would be for naught.

    Still it was harder than he expected to pull his hands away from the clasp, and with a growl he snatched up the bag and headed for the door, not letting himself glance around again. He didn’t want any additional reminders of what he was doing, or what he was leaving behind. It had been his intention just to leave, to walk away with his head held high, but as he quietly moved past the door to Juvia’s room he found himself hesitating again. He couldn’t change his mind, he knew that now.

   Just as he knew that he owed her more than that, as he wasn’t blind to the fact that she had been watching him slipping away over the last few weeks, concern in the blue eyes that had finally begun to sparkle again after everything that had happened with Keyes and his father and at the same time he couldn’t bring himself to just walk away. Quietly he dumped his bag beside the door before reaching for the handle, hesitating for a moment before grasping it and easing the door open, aware that she was a light sleeper even at the best of times.

   He hovered in the doorway for a moment, studying the sleeping figure on the bed, a faint smile tugging at his lips as she rolled over and hugged a pillow to herself with a sleepy mumble. Part of him wondering how different things would have been if he had given into her hints for them to share a bed, would she be cuddling him like that? He had resisted though, vaguely aware that he would have to leave at some point, knowing that the darkness they had uncovered in the conflict with Tartarus was far from gone, and not wanting to make his disappearance any harder on her than it had to be. Still, he couldn’t quite quell the flicker of longing in his chest. The ‘what ifs’ hurt to think about and he turned away, not wanting to face that on top of everything that lay ahead of him, but that would be the cowards way out, and with a sigh he turned back and moved quietly into the room. He left the door open a crack so that he could use the light from the hallway to see where he was going, wincing as he stepped on a creaky floorboard and freezing as Juvia stirred slightly.

   Apparently, their training session that afternoon had worn her out, just as he had intended it to. Although he had to admit, at least to himself, that part of the reason of going so hard and drawing it out had been to spend more time with her, to engrave the memory of their time together on his memory, so that it would a talisman as he let the darkness spread. With a murmur that could have been his name, or something nonsensical that made sense only to her, she rolled over again and settled once more. He waited a moment before moving forward again, sinking cautiously onto the edge of the bed beside her, his expression softening as he studied her sleeping face. She looked so innocent and peaceful in sleep, no sign of everything she had endured to get to this point to be seen for once, her hair splayed around as she breathed deeply. The opposite of his own hardened expression, and the dark markings that were a painfully visible sign of what he had endured and what else he still had to face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he reached out to brush a wayward strand of hair out of her face, his fingers lingering for a moment. It was because of that expression that he was leaving. It was that peace and innocence that made him want to protect her from everything that he was about to get involved in, because he knew, if he asked she would follow him down to hell. It wouldn’t matter that he couldn’t guarantee success or safety, she would still follow, and that innocence would be destroyed. It would be damaged by his disappearance, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that she would just be able to continue on as though nothing had happened, but damage could be repaired, destruction couldn’t, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to survive if something happened to her. “I’m sorry, Juvia…” He repeated, almost wishing that she would wake up and tell him that it was okay, but more relieved when instead she slept on. “I-I have to go, but I promise that I will come back.”

_As soon as I can, I will come back and then maybe, just maybe I will be able to reply to your feelings and to mine…_


End file.
